What Should I Sell On Amazon? - Part One

by Skip McGrath

I probably receive more emails on this subject than any other. Buyers read
The Complete Amazon Marketing System
and they want to start selling, but just can't figure out what to sell, or
how to get started.

If you are a new seller, my first piece of advice is to clean out your
garage or attic.
You need to gain some experience selling before you go off and purchase a
large lot of wholesale merchandise. (Yes - Used products do sell on Amazon
if they are in good condition)

Start by selling small appliances, wedding gifts you never use, old books
(non-fiction ones are best), used sporting goods, clothing items (that
great leather jacket that doesn't fit you any more or that pair of cowboy
boots you bought on your business trip to Dallas, but never wear).

Next turn to your hobbies and interests.
Too many sellers think the only way to make a fortune is to buy large
quantities of the latest hot-selling items and put up dozens of listings.
The problem is, the really large sellers with deep pockets are doing the
same thing.

(If you don't believe me do a search for diet pills, or cell phone cases.)
As you gain experience you can move into larger markets, but this area is
fraught with danger for the new seller. There are plenty of companies with
enough money to import these items directly by the thousands and undersell
anyone who buys through an importer or distributor. So avoid looking for
the hottest products -as there is so much competition that margins are
really small.

Sell something you know something about. Almost everyone collects
"something." If you are knowledgeable about a certain type of merchandise,
then you have the ability to do the research to find the products at prices
you can resell.

Once you gain experience, try to focus on larger dollar items.
If you only make $2.00 profit per sale, you have to sell 1,000 items per
month, to make $2,000. But, if you make a $15 profit on each item, then you
only have to sell 133 items per month to make the same amount.

Everyone wants to sell computers, software, movies, DVD's, digital cameras
and all sorts of consumer electronics. The sad fact is that Sony,
Panasonic, Canon, and others don't sell their latest hottest products to
small dealers who work out of their home. (In fact, they don't sell
anything except through their master distributors.) Even the big stores
have trouble getting a large allocation of really hot products.

It is possible to get into this business if you have a lot of money, market
and product knowledge (such as you get by working in a computer store), and
you have the contacts to buy the merchandise.

The problem is that you are competing with major retailers on both eBay and
Amazon, some who sell under their own name, and others who sell under blind
usernames (As well as some manufacturers and distributors who set up direct
accounts).

One way you can succeed selling consumer electronics is with overstock and
closeout merchandise. Millions of dollars' worth of consumer electronics,
computers and software are sold by closeout dealers every week. The trick
is to really know what you are buying, work on small margins and turn your
inventory over often. Unfortunately, it takes at least $2000 to $3000
capital investment to compete in this arena. (Be careful of buying
restricted brands.
Here is an article on that
)

Drop shipping is another strategy used by new sellers. I hesitate to
recommend working with drop shippers because so many of them are not very
reliable -and most of them are virtual dropshippers. Those are
essentially middlemen who do not actually stock the product. Also - you
should know that Amazon has a long-term plan to ban drop shipping on Amazon
except for furniture and appliances

Another problem with dropshippers is they sell a lot of fake merchandise
-and that can get your account cancelled permanently.

The problem with drop shipping is that your feedback is on the line. If the
drop shipper is temporarily out of stock, or somehow screws up your order
-it is your feedback that will suffer. When you are
starting out, just one or two negative feedback comments can set your back
months. Also the merchandise available from most drop shippers is being
sold by hundreds of other sellers.

If you are really strapped for cash, you can use a drop shipper
temporarily. As soon as you can afford it however, I would start buying
wholesale from direct wholesalers and/or distributors. You will make more
money and have greater control over your business.

I'm often asked, "What should I sell?" I am usually also asked what are the
best selling items on eBay, in other words what are the hot sellers.

Non-fiction books on hobbies, sports, nautical subjects, history,
military science, popular textbooks, and art & photography.
Also books containing maps and art prints that can be broken and
sold individually.

Maps and old prints of ships, flowers, animals (horses and dogs are
tops)

Used auto parts for specialty automobiles (Porsche, BMW, MG, etc.)

Automotive models and car collectibles

Sports collectibles (Currently a restricted category but you can
apply for permission)

I could go on, but these are some of the better (and easy to sell) items on
Amazon today. (I am sure I missed a few).

If you want to know what to sell, the single best piece of advice I can
give new sellers is to be unique and to specialize. Find a niche market,
learn everything about it and work it over and over. Once you master it,
then move on to a new niche. For example - our best-selling niche is
kitchen products

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